2025 NBA Draft (2)

[Negrodamus]

Do what I do most drafts, get on board. Sometimes I’ll defend the player too long even if I hated the pick (Jahlil Okafor).

I'm the same way (despite my disappointment last year), but Okafor was the exception. That pick was so awful it was telegraphed beforehand, and for me it was just hoping he was dumped while we could still get some value.

Dude, same. The Okafor draft ruined my night and I never rooted for that ****. I assumed it was about to be the old Hinkie special and he was gonna rip a team off for Jah. Nope.

I even talked myself into Zaire within hours of the draft despite knowing that we **** up in the moment, twice.

I don't think I ever really talked myself into Zhaire. I just accepted our fate on that one. I was just curious what my reaction was and searched for the Zhaire thread:

Sigh...

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1717411&start=20

Checks out.

[M2J]

Draft night is gonna be so hilarious when we pick Ace, people gloat, and then they announce the trade like 20 minutes later

If that happens, I'm gonna do an about face and assume he is the next Kevin Durant. I've really been negatively conditioned by being a Sixers' fan.

Truthfully, again at this point just validation in judging the talent of Ace being a clear top 2 or 3 for me. But, I also see him being scary for this team.... If certain win now moves can be paired with a quality pick... I'd get it and can still watch Ace become the star he'll become

[Arsenal]

The fact that Edgecombe is a terror for PnR ball handlers would be a blessing for Embiid. I'm sure he's sick of switching on everything.

Morey should be fired immediately if he's drafting a guy at #3 for fit with Embiid. Joel Embiid is totally irrelevant to this pick.

[Negrodamus]

The fact that Edgecombe is a terror for PnR ball handlers would be a blessing for Embiid. I'm sure he's sick of switching on everything.

Morey should be fired immediately if he's drafting a guy at #3 for fit with Embiid. Joel Embiid is totally irrelevant to this pick.

I'm not saying his PnR defense and how it relates to Joel Embiid is the reason for the pick. I'm just pointing out another positive for our friend VJ Edgecombe, particularly as it pertains to the team as it's currently constructed.

[Arsenal]

Grabbing a guy at #3 overall to be like Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, De'Anthony Melton, Jalen Suggs and some of the other comps I've seen for VJ would be a total disaster.

Those guys are role players. We need a star with this pick.

[Iverson Armband]

Grabbing a guy at #3 overall to be like Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, De'Anthony Melton, Jalen Suggs and some of the other comps I've seen for VJ would be a total disaster.

Those guys are role players. We need a star with this pick.

Trust me, Morey got us. If he drafts VJ at #3 then he will be the next D-Wade (he won’t). There is no way Daryl doesn’t understand the importance of this pick.

[Negrodamus]

OT: But I think Collin Murray Boyles is going to become a villain once he's a few years into his career in the NBA. Plays very aggressive, defensive oriented, a big dude. I don't know his personality, but just a random stupid prediction of mine.

[OleSchool]

Grabbing a guy at #3 overall to be like Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, De'Anthony Melton, Jalen Suggs and some of the other comps I've seen for VJ would be a total disaster.

Those guys are role players. We need a star with this pick.

That would be GREAT. But who has star potential?

[FireMorey]

Morey has always preferred offensive upside to defensive. At least when it comes to guards or wings. Something to keep in mind in this draft. He had a crush on Harden who always lollygagged on defense. He took Maxey and McCain who aren't exactly known for their defense. Morey wants guys who can put the ball in the basket and do it at a star level.

[Jailblazers7]

OT: But I think Collin Murray Boyles is going to become a villain once he's a few years into his career in the NBA. Plays very aggressive, defensive oriented, a big dude. I don't know his personality, but just a random stupid prediction of mine.

I fear that he ends up going at 15 to OKC and the rich get richer.

[Mik317]

everyone has star upside if you are delusional enough

step yall game up

[mjkvol]

Do what I do most drafts, get on board. Sometimes I’ll defend the player too long even if I hated the pick (Jahlil Okafor).

I'm the same way (despite my disappointment last year), but Okafor was the exception. That pick was so awful it was telegraphed beforehand, and for me it was just hoping he was dumped while we could still get some value.

Dude, same. The Okafor draft ruined my night and I never rooted for that ****. I assumed it was about to be the old Hinkie special and he was gonna rip a team off for Jah. Nope.

I even talked myself into Zaire within hours of the draft despite knowing that we **** up in the moment, twice.

I hated the Zhaire trade because I loved Bridges as our pick at #11 (missed on SGA like a lot of people) and he was the perfect plug and play kid at a position of dire need. Just a bizarre trade made with the hope of a rule change and gambling on the upside of a project at a time where we needed wings in the worst way.

[mjkvol]

I wouldn’t be mad if we drafted VJ. He’s easy to root for, he’s a winning two-way player who can space the floor, plays with a high motor, high IQ, and impact on both ends of the floor.

It’d be fun to see him paired with Maxey in the backcourt. The quickness and athleticism from both would generate deflections, attack closeouts, and score in transition. Offensively, we could use him in a limited role, similar to how Cason Wallace or Caruso plays for OKC, low usage, high impact.

His shot profile is solid, good volume and decent efficiency on unassisted mid-range and three-point shots in the halfcourt. His main weaknesses are finishing at the rim and drawing fouls in the halfcourt, but with his explosive athleticism, those are areas you can realistically expect him to improve.

Every time I watch VJ he strikes me as the kind of role player that contending teams always seem to have in their rotation, and a kid who will flourish in a winning situation but underachieve on a losing team. Not sure he's worth the 3rd pick, but I wouldn't have a problem if Morey believes he was the BPA.

[zaz102]

I'm good with whomever Morey picks.

1. He has a good track record and I think he makes decisions like a robot in a good way.

2. He has a scouting department with more info that me or anyone else here has access to.

3. There are like six guys in the tier to pick at #3 so theres not even consensus really, so hard to get worked up. If they had #2 and they found out Harper was super lazy or something, but that wasn't public record, it would make sense for fans to get mad without having all the info, but they dont really have to worry about that for this pick.

[Sixersftw]

I'm the same way (despite my disappointment last year), but Okafor was the exception. That pick was so awful it was telegraphed beforehand, and for me it was just hoping he was dumped while we could still get some value.

Dude, same. The Okafor draft ruined my night and I never rooted for that ****. I assumed it was about to be the old Hinkie special and he was gonna rip a team off for Jah. Nope.

I even talked myself into Zaire within hours of the draft despite knowing that we **** up in the moment, twice.

I hated the Zhaire trade because I loved Bridges as our pick at #11 (missed on SGA like a lot of people) and he was the perfect plug and play kid at a position of dire need. Just a bizarre trade made with the hope of a rule change and gambling on the upside of a project at a time where we needed wings in the worst way.

I loved SGA and I loved Bridges. I knew we should have picked/kept either one but I was so process brained that I figured that the Heat pick had the potential to be very valuable since their roster looked very old and mediocre at that moment and, to quote a scholar, Zaire Dunk'd hard.

Obviously I had no idea SGA could get HERE.

[Black Mage]

In other parts of the draft Morey has been willing to gamble on singular elite skills (Maxey driving to lane; McCain elite shooting). In the second round he's targeted players with outlier athletic measurements with some tools that could be built upon as a big or guards/wings with a shot profile (Reed, Bona, Joe).

All of those above picks were primarily one dimensional players. My guess is Morey is going to view a Top 5 prospect as needing to have two-way tools to build upon. I think ownership is going to be realistic and will allow a rawer prospect to be picked b/c they're angling for a competitive team to be in place in 2030 for the new arena.

My bet is Morey looking at Harper, Ace or VJ b/c they have displayed 2-way tools in college even if they need polishing. I think for Tre to be in the conversation he's going to have to be of a Steph Curry type nuclear offensive force whose offensive impact overwhelms their one-way nature and I just don't see that in Tre. Kon lacks the athleticism and size/wingspan needed to be a true two-way star. Maluach is a wild card but I think there isn't enough offensive tools to bump VJ or Ace. Guys like Essengue and Bryant are either too raw to go that high or don't have the upside potential as the others mentioned above.

Between VJ and Bailey, I think he goes Bailey b/c Bailey brings ideal positional size and as someone said he prefers a shooting profile and Baileys shot (talking mechanics not diet) is better than VJ's by a significant margin.

[Mik317]

VJ probably doesn't get by 4 unless Bailey doesn't go at 3....so if he is the target, it kinda has to be at 3

My VJ takes are complicated. I'll admit I am an easy mark for guys who jump high and dunkz hawd. Coolest part of basketball. But yeah the most realistic outcome is him being that guy who does a lot of "da little things" that us basketball nerds love to point out...which is important but it is just a tough sell with a top 3-5 pick so you have to hope in some outlier development that he suddenly turns into Wade or Edwards outta nowhere...which isn't something you can hang your hat on. VJ seems like a guy who will be good at a lot of things but not great beyond sick dunks and burst. Tre has the scoring upside bet and Ace has the golden goose wing scorer upside bet.

so yeah idk.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Who knows with VJ? I'm not making this comparison, but Donovan Mitchell was drawing similar comparisons coming into the league. He wasn't supposed to be the scorer he became either. Mitchell was a defensive minded guard that was supposedly going to be a role player like Suggs, Melton, GP2. His draftnet comp was Normal Powell.

Mitchell...was a wing at Louisville and the thought was that it would take him time to transition into a combo guard. Sounds very familiar with Edgecombe. Again I'm not comparing them, but there are some similarities and I think assuming Edgecombe is only going to be as good as GP2 OR Melton is short sighted. I mean if that's the worst possible outcome for Edgecombe then ok...He will have been drafted too high, but will still have a solid NBA career.
IDK there's something about Edgecombe that screams all star. These guys that have the physical tools like he has don't usually fail. They do take a few years to reach their ceiling, but they don't bust. Antonio Daniels is a player that comes to mind that did by all accounts bust (based off where he was picked). Long career, was a starter at times, but was picked way too high back in the late 90s. Basically a career role player. He's one of the few that had all the physical tools to be very good in this league and as much as he didn't live up to the hype, he did have a very long career.
I look at Edgecombe and I see shades of Jrue Holiday, Donovan Mitchell, Latrell Sprewell, Ben Mathurin, Collin Sexton, Kyle Lowry, Scoot Henderson, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Suggs, Nate Robinson. Strong, athletic, powerful athletes at the guard position that not only have long careers, but are also very durable players.

Oh...I'm not a Grimes guy at all. I don't care if he comes back. I'd rather we bring back Yabu. That being said, drafting Edgecombe softens the loss of Grimes quite a bit, and even if we keep Grimes...Edgecombe is a plug in play role player on this team right away. Give him a few years and he will probably be doing more (I feel the same about Bailey). A lot of this comes down to timing and opportunity with these players. Experience gets you there quicker one way or the other. I'm not going to be upset if we draft him. I'm also a Bailey guy, I think on draft night we're calling one of their names unless the Spurs do the unthinkable and take someone not named Harper.

[Jailblazers7]

Indy is proving the immense value of an athletic point of attack defender who can hit open 3s while also having some juice off the dribble. That’s the case for VJ imo because disruptive perimeter defenders have premium value and he has enough offensive tools that he can be more than a pure 3&D guy.

[okboomer]

With VJ to me it all comes down to how much he can improve his dribbling. Everything else is there, he has plays where you just see glimpses of it. From all accounts he seems like a one who will continue to work. All these prospects being discussed have glaring flaws though all have the potential to be more than a role player. The tough part is just projecting which one is most likely to reach that.